In any case Chelsea expect him to be missing for at least three weeks and that leaves just Tiemoue Bakayoko and Cesc Fabregas as the club’s senior, fit central midfielders.

Scott, 19, is yet to feature for the club but Conte says he could play some part in the coming weeks.

Scott is in line for his debut (Picture: Getty)

‘This [Kante] is a big loss for us. You know very well the importance of Kante in our team and we don’t have another player with the same characteristics,’ said Conte.

‘For sure it’s not lucky for us in this period. In midfield we only have Bakayoko and Fabregas available.

‘We have to approach seven games in on month and for this reason in this period we have to find solutions and adapt some defenders in midfield or to give opportunities to young players like [Kyle] Scott to play from the start.’